SKREIGH- C.DIGGORY

59

"What is it you want me to retrieve?" Delilah asks the headmaster.

"A ring," Dumbledore replies. "The Gaunt family ring"

"Any particular reason?"

"When you need to know, I will tell you,"

"I'm not agreeing unless you tell me,"

"What do you know of Horcruxes?"

"It requires some of the darkest magic in the wizarding world to achieve," Delilah replies. "A Horcrux hides a fragment of a person's soul in order to achieve immortality"

"I believe that is how Voldemort survived the killing curse in Godric's Hollow," Dumbledore informs the witch. "Creating horcruxes"

"As in multiple?" Delilah asks.

"I believe so,"

"How many are we talking about here?"

"Seven,"

"Seven?!" Delilah's eyes are wide with disbelief before she clears her throat and asks her next question. "You believe this ring is one?"

"Despite a Horcrux dehumanising the person, I believe Voldemort would use one that has some symbolism. His mother was a Gaunt"

"So I just have to retrieve the ring?"

"Yes,"

"I better go now then," Delilah gets to her feet.

"Miss Potter, proceed with caution,"

"When have I ever been reckless?"

Before Dumbledore can answer that question, Delilah is engulfed in red smoke and gone from sight. The witch lands in front of the entrance in front of Hogwarts, her outfit consisting of black trousers, black boots and a red hooded cloak that ends at her waist.

Delilah stares at the main doors that lead to the castle that is Hogwarts. Her eyes move to the astronomy tower where a familiar platinum-blonde figure is leaning over the railing. The auburn-haired witch bows her head and Draco does the same, offering her a small wave. Delilah pulls the red hood of her cloak over her head, hiding her telltale hair before, with a crack, she vanished from the grounds.

The building Delilah lands outside of was in ruins. The kind of ruins that were unable to be fixed due to the dark magic that had caused them. The smell of mildew and rot fills Delilah's nose causing her to scrunch her face up in disgust.

The witch ensures her hood remains firmly on her head as she pushes the door open to the house. Rats ran freely across the floor as maggots thrived on the surface tops that were left. The staircase was half caved in, the handrail was completely obliterated.

A crunch under Delilah's heeled boot causes her to look down. The skeleton of a woman was on the floor and Delilah had just crushed the femur which crumbled like dust.

Delilah's hand glows red as she glides it over the skeleton. A small holographic figure pops up showing Delilah what the skeleton looked like prior to her death. Delilah was sure that the woman had the potential to be beautiful but the lifestyle she lived made it impossible. Her hair was lank and dull, her face was pale and sunken a sure sign of malnutrition. Her eyes were emotionless, all feeling numbed from her body to deal with the horror that was her life. Her clothes were raggedy and there were bruises marring her face.

The holograms before Delilah begin to paint a picture of abuse, neglect and horror. The attack on muggles committed by her father and brother, the desperation for love so strong that she slipped an unassuming muggle man a love potion before she fell pregnant with a child. Upon removing the love potion, the father of her child left immediately. The woman died merely an hour after the birth of her child, at the mere age of nineteen and her son was taken in by the orphanage in which he had been born.